Catching More Than a Snitch
by rannha
Summary: Lily Evans is going back to Hogwarts for the last time. So much has changed since the first time she walked in the huge doors.  She has a feeling that this year is going to be something special-little does she know how right she is.
1. Chapter 1

What would you do if everything you held tenderly in your heart was ripped away from you? Would you die for the chance to do what is right? To stand up for your values?

My sister Petunia believes she would, though I beg to differ. I admit that we haven't exactly been on speaking terms in, well, years. But I still don't think she would ever die for a cause. Right now, I'm not sure if I would either…

But hey, I am only seventeen, and I have a lot of life ahead of me!

The reason I questioned the whole "dying for morals" thing was because

a) I'm bored. It's summer and there's nothing to do here

And more importantly:

b) because of what Petunia said to me yesterday. We were sitting at the table for dinner—me, Tuney, my mum, and my dad—and Petunia thought it would be an excellent time to get in a fight.

"When are you going back to your 'freak school', Lily?" she had asked me mockingly. I tried my hardest not to give in to her evil grin, but I really couldn't help myself.

"Not soon enough. Just think, I have to deal with you for another _two whole weeks_!" I had said, putting all my effort into looking horrified.

My father had slammed his fist down loudly on the table.

"I will not have this argument at the table—ever again! Do you hear me?" I had nodded slowly, looking back down at my unappealing food, but Petunia wasn't done with the fight.

"I would rather _die _than have to live at a school for… for wackos with bats and dragon guts for brains!" (Petunia is always strongly against cussing, so her insults are always full of juicy words like 'dragon guts'—really, I could barely contain myself yesterday I felt so hurt! HA! )

At this point my mother, with her gentle ways, looked liked she would burst into tears. Both her and my father had been so proud when they found out that I was a witch on my eleventh birthday, but it was times like the one yesterday when I wonder whether they regret that day.

I know I don't. No matter how far Hogwarts has torn me and my sister apart, I wouldn't have it any other way. She thinks she would die for the value of being a muggle, but I would die for the right to be a witch. It's in my blood. Even if I had never received a letter on my eleventh birthday, I would still have magic running through my veins. Eventually Petunia and I would have drifted apart without Hogwarts.

I was brought out of these thoughts and to the present with when a sharp knock came from the window above my bed and I glanced up to see a large barn owl perched outside of it.

"Coming," I muttered, more to myself than to the bird. I let it in, and it flew gracefully to my bed where it held up its leg for the letter to be untied. The letter in question looked bigger than it had in the past. I started to feel panicky. What could possibly be in it besides the usual list of school supplies?

Ignoring the fear that crept up my spine, I slit the envelope open. The supplies list slipped into my hand. It was a treacherously long list of the usual: books, potion ingredients, clothing items, etc. But there was still something in the envelope. I glanced in it and dropped it in surprise.

A bright, golden badge fell onto the floor along with another letter, though this one considerably shorter than the first.

_ Miss Lily Evans,_

_I am pleased to enlighten you on the fact that you were picked to be this year's Head Girl at Hogwarts. With this position comes great responsibility, which, as you were chosen, you will be able to handle with little trouble. You will start reporting for duty as soon as the Hogwarts Express leaves on September the 1__st__. It is expected that you meet the new Head Boy in the prefect's compartment at 12:00 sharp. From there, you will schedule all the necessary tasks for the prefects… _

The letter went on with rules and regulations that came with the job, but also the privileges—which were many! I couldn't contain my delight. I let out a little yelp of happiness and picked up my new badge off the ground.

It glittered in the light of my room, and the HG letters stood out bright against the Hogwarts crest on which they sat.

Petunia creaked open my door. We haven't talked once since dinner yesterday, and so her face gave me quite a shock.

"What was with the scream, freak?" she asked. "If you were looking for some way to hurt yourself, all you had to do was ask."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Shut up, Petunia. It was a happy scream. Now if you would leave me to my peace, I would be thankful for the rest of my life." I shut the door hard on her face.

I could hear her mutter curses under her breath. Honestly, sometimes I think it would be better it she swore. I might be able to take her a little more seriously then. Because "Stupid frog—piece of rotten seaweed—and, my personal favorite, carrot face" didn't really have a bad impact on me. In fact, they made me laugh and today was no exception.

I found myself start to giggle uncontrollably and had to grab my bed post to keep from falling over. I don't know why it was so funny. I was probably just on a happy high from getting to be Head Girl.

I fumbled around my desk trying to find paper. I could wait and surprise my friends with the news, but I was not a patient person.

I was half way through my letter to my closest friend, Zoë, when I had a horrible thought.

Who was Head Boy? What if it was a slytherin? Not that a slytherin had ever been Head Boy, but it was possible. With my luck, this year would be a first.

I put down my quill and pondered the possibilities_. It could be Remus. I would be fine with that; we always get along just fine…. Or, maybe that handsome guy from Ravenclaw, John… _I erupted into giggles again; I couldn't help myself.

I knew I was acting like a silly first year, but the combined excitement of going back to Hogwarts along with the fact that I would be Head Girl was too much for me.

I spent the rest of the day giddy with joy. I didn't even mind Petunia's snotty comments at dinner for once.

The next two weeks flew by, especially with all the preparations for school. But I soon found myself staring at the familiar sight of platform 9 ¾ and the Hogwarts Express. But before I could get on the train with a couple of my friends, another familiar sight caught my eye.

An unfortunate familiar sight.

"Hey, Evans," James Potter said casually, walking up to greet me. I frowned at his annoyingly stuck-up-in-every-direction-but-still-looks-cool hair and didn't reply.

Zoë poked me in the ribs hard before smiling at Potter.

"Hi James," she giggled. I silently gagged. Not even my best friend could stop herself from flirting with him. _Why must my life be so hard? _I asked myself sarcastically.

I looked at the rest of my friends. Mary MacDonald looked like she was about to faint at the sight of the quidditch player, though it might have been because she was more timid than most. And Anna Jones stood staring at James with a cool glare. She had never quite forgiven him for the small prank he and Sirius had played on her in our second year.

I honestly didn't doubt that James Potter didn't even remember the incident. But I was silently glad it had happened because it gave me and Anna something in common—our _strong_ dislike of Potter, the boy who thought he was above all else.


	2. Chapter 2

I sat in a compartment with my friends. Mary had her nose stuck behind a rather dry looking book; Anna chattered happily, her anger over seeing Potter completely forgotten; Zoë listened to Anna, but she seemed distracted.

After a moment she said, "Lily, do you know who Head Boy is?" I looked at her.

"Nope… I was thinking it could be John Isons from Ravenclaw…" I felt myself blush. "Or Remus…" I rushed on.

Zoë laughed. "Have a little crush, do we, Lily?"

"No! Well, not Remus…" Mary looked up from her book and Anna stared at me, eyes wide.

"John Isons?" Zoë squealed. I frowned at her.

"Honestly Zoë, are you a first year or a seventh year?"

"I'm sorry, it's just, well, we always thought you would end up with Ja—" Zoë stopped talking abruptly when Mary poked her hard.

"With who?" I had a sneaking suspicion of whom Zoe was talking about, and I became angry.

"You weren't just about to say James Potter were you?" I glared at the threesome. Zoë just shrugged, but the other two looked embarrassed.

"Well, he has been asking you out continuously for the past two years. We figured you would give in eventually! I mean, he is good looking and funny and—"

"I can't _believe_ you!" I don't know why I was so upset, but I couldn't stand it. The idea that my best friends thought that James Potter and I would go out…. I shuddered at the thought.

While I wasn't friends with Severus Snape anymore, I still couldn't forgive Potter for what he had done to my old friend. Plus, Potter was so full of himself, and arrogant, and selfish, and annoying, and—you get the idea.

"I need to take a walk," I said, getting up from the train seat and quickly exiting the apartment. None of my friends tried to stop me; they knew that when I was angry, the best thing they could give me was time.

Now that I was out in the train's hallway, I felt silly. I had totally overreacted to my friends' comments. But my pride didn't want me to go back to the compartment either.

I glanced at my watch. 12:06 was the time. I mentally slapped myself across the forehead. I was late for my first meeting as Head Girl! _What must the Head Boy think of me?_ I thought. I prayed that it wasn't John Isons. I would die of embarrassment if it was. _Please let it be Remus, at least I know him well enough not to feel so embarrassed._

I dashed down the hall, knowing how silly I must look but didn't care. I reached the first compartment and rushed inside. I looked around for the Head Boy to apologize but stopped short.

"I—where's the Head Boy?" James Potter sat in one of the room's comfy chairs and stared at me as I walked in.

"Honestly Evans, I never thought you were late for anything, but you surprise me yet again," he replied, totally ignoring my question. I felt a flicker of fire rise in my chest. I felt that it was his fault that I was angry with my friends, though I knew it really wasn't.

"Just answer my question Potter. And what are you doing here?"

"Well, first, that's two questions. And to answer them. The Head Boy was right on time for this meeting and happens to be sitting in a rather ugly, though comfortable, yellow chair," Potter said, pointing to the fabric underneath him.

I looked at him in confusion for a moment before realizing what he was saying. I shook my head.

"Funny, Potter, real funny. Did you know that not everything in life is supposed to be a joke? My question was serious." James looked slightly hurt.

"Ouch, my pride is wounded." He grabbed his chest in mock pain. Then he grabbed something on his robe and showed me a shiny badge identical to mine except that it had a H.B. on it.

It was too real to be a prank.

I felt the edges of my vision go blurry until all I could see was James Potter's face looking at me, grinning in triumph. My knees felt weak.

"Are you okay, Lily?" Potter's face changing. His grin turned to a frown as he looked concerned, and he reached out and grabbed by shoulder to steady me.

I realized how close I had been to collapsing on the floor like a wimp and was glad that he had steadied me. Wait, no I wasn't.

"Let go of me, Potter!" I barked. For once, he did as told.

I found it ironic how I had been worrying about Head Boy being a slytherin, yet it hadn't even crossed my mind that anyone would make James Potter Head Boy. And I thought a slytherin would have been impossible…


	3. Chapter 3

I found myself sitting across from the most irresponsible boy in the world and listening as he made plans for the incoming prefects as we sat on the Hogwarts Express. I was still recovering from my shock of seeing Potter with a Head Boy badge. Maybe in ten years I would get over it.

Maybe.

"Honestly, Evans, if you don't close your mouth I think you'll soon be sitting in a lake of your own drool," he preached.

I quickly snapped my lips together, realizing that for the second time today he was right. I had a hard time accepting that James Potter could organize anything, I mean, he couldn't even comb his own hair. How was he supposed to be Head Boy?

But apparently I was wrong. And to make it worse, James Potter was right.

"Are you even listening to a word I've been saying?" I looked at Potter, my face burning.

"Of course," I snapped, causing him to grin.

"Uhuh, you know, I'm starting to wonder how anyone in their right mind made you Head Girl. You just don't seem to have your heart into it," he said mockingly.

I wanted to scream and punch his face. In that order. But, unlike James Potter, I could control myself. And trust me, it took a lot of control.

We spent the rest of the train ride bickering over, well, everything. Eventually Potter let me have my way because the train was stopping in ten minutes and because my ideas were better (of course).

As we were exiting the compartment Potter said, "You know, we're going to have to get along this year as Head Boy and Girl. I know you would prefer to stay as far away from me as possible, but please try and make this work." He gave me a hesitant smile before walking away.

My brain sank to my knees and then left my body completely. It's probably floating somewhere in the Pacific by now.

What happened to the Potter who kept asking me out? The Potter who pestered me and made fun of me and yelled at me? The Potter who was so full of himself he would never give me a hesitant smile?

Maybe he was on vacation in the Pacific along with my brain.

This new Potter was… new. And I wasn't sure I liked it. How was I supposed to react to him now? Before I could easily yell back at him, but I couldn't do that when he was behaving so nicely. I would feel like a… witch.

"Hey, what were you and James doing together—alone?" I looked behind me and saw a blonde haired Ravenclaw sixth year.

"Umm… We had a meeting. Head Boy and Girl stuff," I said, distracted. Not that it's any of your business, I thought.

"Oh, that make's a lot more sense now."

"Why?"

"Well, he doesn't like you anymore," the girl told me. I felt an irritating buzz in my brain. Why did it bother me that she was saying this?

"Look, I don't even know who you are. Why are you telling me this?"

The girl flicked a strand of golden hair behind her ear. "I'm just telling you the truth. You looked a little upset when he walked away just now. But he's over you." Without another word, she flounced away in the direction Potter had taken.

I turned away with a sigh. It was going to be a long year.

If James Potter is moving on in his life, then I was going to too. Part of me felt that I would miss the chance to argue with him—because he was so good at it. But I knew it would be for the best; I should have been glad. But instead I was worried.

Something seemed out of place. The way Potter was acting, the strange girl who I recognized by face only.

I started to make my way back to my friend's compartment, contemplating a good excuse for my earlier behavior to them. They would understand; they always did.

"Umph!" I stumbled over as someone ran into me, or should I say, I ran into him?

"Lily!" I pulled myself off the ground and looked up. Remus Lupin towered over me, smiling. He had been luckier than me and had remained with both feet firmly on the floor.

"Remus, it's good to see you again! Can you believe it's already our last year at Hogwarts?" We made small talk for another minute before I scampered off to catch up with my friends.

I shook my head as I walked away from Remus. Out of all the boys in 7th year, I never understood how Remus had gotten stuck with friends like Sirius Black and, worse, James Potter. Maybe one day I would have the courage to ask him.

"Lily Evans! Where have you been?" Zoë ran up to me grabbing my arm, our earlier argument totally forgotten. I knew I should probably apologize anyway, but told myself I would later (although I knew I wouldn't…). "Come on, or we'll miss the carriages! Mary and Anna said they would try and hold one for me while I tried to find you. Well, come on!"

I was silently thankful for having such good friends, unlike Remus, as I ran after Zoë, pulling my luggage behind me.


	4. Chapter 4

James Potter was planning something… Something sneaky, of course, as that was the only thing he was good at planning. The only question was: what?

I found myself staring at him and his three friends as we sat eating the first day feast. Dumbledore had just finished giving his speech and the sorting hat and done its job.

As soon as food had appeared on the table, I watched as James Potter gathered his friends close to him and start whispering urgently. I glared at them, unabashed by the people seeing me stare.

I concentrated so hard that I hardly noticed my food—and I missed my mouth with a spoonful of mashed potatoes and it ended up all over my face. Spluttering, I reached for a napkin as Zoë burst out laughing. Honestly, I was surprised she didn't wet herself. At least Anna and Mary had enough courtesy to giggle into their napkins.

To add to the moment, I gulped quickly and started choking on my own spit. Zoë thumped me hard on the back, making the situation worse.

"Jeez, Lily, I never knew you were this clumsy," Zoë snorted as she turned back to her own food.

I didn't reply, my attention focused elsewhere. Unlike the mash potato incident, my choking on spit wasn't my fault—well, not entirely.

It was because I had looked over at the Slytherin table.

Severus Snape had been staring at me. Actually, it was more like he was trying to penetrate my mind with those dark eyes of his. When he saw me looking at him, his frown deepened, and he raised his eyebrows, as if daring me to show some form of recognition. That was when I had started choking.

I glanced at Severus again. His eyes hadn't changed at all.

I felt myself blushing and looked away. How dare he even look at me? I hadn't forgotten the stuff he had said about me, and I never would. Though, by the look on his face, I didn't think he would ever forget it either…

I frowned and looked back at the Marauders, as James Potter's gang like to be called.

"What could they possibly be planning?" I asked Mary, who shrugged looking uninterested.

"Why do you care what they are doing, anyway? I thought you hated James Potter," she said. I waved my hand dismissingly at her.

"I don't hate anybody. Well…" I glanced at the Slytherin table again. "Almost anybody… But I don't hate Potter; I just strongly dislike him. There's a difference!" I concluded.

Mary looked unsure and Anna said, "If you choose to _strongly_ dislike him, that's fine by me, but_ I_ hate him!" Her eyes narrowed as she thought of her second year. I couldn't even bring myself to think about it—it was that bad.

"And who is this that we so strongly hate?" a voice behind my ear said. I snapped my head around and saw Potter. My limited patience was running on thin ice (not something I suggest doing, by the way).

"Why are you spying on us?" I asked, anger making my face red.

Potter shrugged, trying to look calm and collected. "I could ask you the same thing," was all he said.

"Hey look, no hard feelings. Right, James? Lily has just been having a bad day. She even spilled her mashed potatoes all over herself," Zoë told him to my dismay, while pointing to the gravy stains on my robes that I had tried so hard to hide.

If I could have strangled her and thrown her body to the hungry Slytherins, I would have. But I had a feeling that, while nasty, they hadn't gone as far as cannibalism yet.

So instead I had to settle for jabbing her in the rib. She yelped, and I made a guilty face, pretending I had accidentally jabbed her harder than I meant to, but secretly basking in her pain. Best friend or not, she couldn't go around telling Potter all my secrets—even if they were about mashed potatoes and gravy.

I went back to glaring at Potter. "What do you want?" He held up his hands as if they would stop the effect of my penetrating glare.

"I only came over to ask you about our duties and Head Boy and Girl. Aren't we supposed to help the new prefects usher the first years to the dormitories?" I felt my heart fall as I realized Potter was right. Again. And I was wrong. Again.

This was starting to happen too often.

He must have seen the defeated look on my face because Potter said with a grin, "Evans, I think you should think about giving up your badge to ol' Peggy—" He pointed at a seventh year Gryffindor, who was notorious for her lack of ability to do… anything. Her dull hair was in a wild black mane as she talked to herself while swirling potatoes around with her spoon. "I think she would put more heart into the job," Potter finished.

I stood up with such a speed that the bench tipped and Zoë fell off the and onto the floor. I didn't even look down to apologize. Instead, I yanked Potter's sleeve and said, "Well, come on then. If you're so concerned about our duties let's not waste our time talking."

I marched him out to the entrance of the Great Hall where we were meeting the prefects. Potter kept glancing at me, but I refused to look at him—or talk to him.

It was still only the first day of school and I had to remind myself yet again that it was going to be a long year.

It was now after the feast, and Potter and I were watching over the prefects, making sure they knew what they were doing. Most of the students had already left the hall. I watched as the last of the Ravenclaws walked by Potter and me.

I caught a glimpse of blonde in the back of the group and realized it was the girl who had talked to me on the train earlier. Her eyes met mine, and my heart felt chilled by the stony expression on her face. Her grey eyes glared at me, and then she looked at Potter, who didn't seem to notice her.

I grinned to myself at this, somewhat foolishly too.

After the hall was empty I said to Potter, "Do you know that blonde Ravenclaw girl who just walked by?" He looked confused.

"Who?"

I shook my head. "Never mind."


	5. Chapter 5

The first week of school was always comparable to spending time in prison—not that I had ever experienced that... This year wasn't so different either. Except that I could faintly taste freedom in the air. One more year then I was out in the world, no longer a student!

"Hey Lily, have you done the potions assignment yet?" Anna asked me, bringing my fantasies of school-free days crashing down. I rolled my eyes and handed her my homework.

Out of all my group of friends, I was the best at potions. It hadn't always been this way. When I was friends with Severus, he had been better—No! I refused to think about him any more. I shook my head, clearing his dark messy hair out of my vision.

"Don't copy it word for word—just get the general idea," I told Anna.

She laughed. "You act as if we haven't been doing this for over six years," she said. I merely shrugged in response.

I was done with homework so I scanned the Gryffindor common room for a certain dark-haired, stuck up boy. Don't get me wrong. I didn't have an option. Otherwise, I wouldn't have wasted my free time looking for _him_.

Then I found him. He was sitting in the shadowy corner discussing something in whispering tones to both Remus and Sirius, but Peter was missing, which was unusual. I saw a group of fifth year girls watching them a couple feet away. They mostly eyed Potter but in a ravenous way that made me feel uncomfortable as I walked up to him.

Potter looked utterly surprised when he glanced up to see my face looking down at him. But he quickly relaxed and tried to find a bored expression.

"Evans."

I nodded in response.

"So, you still remember the meeting tomorrow evening we are holding with the prefects, right? Just to make sure everything is organized and to double check that they all know what they are doing. Not that I don't trust you; I just wanted to make sure you remembered…" I put my hands on my hips in an imposing way.

It didn't affect him. "Look Evans, I'd love to, but I had quidditch try outs planned for that night." He gave me an innocent smile.

Anger bubbled in my chest. I had just started to think that maybe Potter was going to be responsible enough for Head Boy, but he was proving me wrong.

"Look Potter," I said mimicking his earlier statement. "You're Head Boy—it's imperative that you make these meetings."

I heard Sirius chuckle under his breath but stopped with a look from both Remus and Potter.

"What?" he said accusingly. "She said _imperative_. Who actually talks like that?"

That did it. I decided to let Potter feel my entire wrath, even though some of it deserved to go to Sirius.

"Potter—get this into your negligible brain—I don't know why Dumbledore felt it necessary to make you Head Boy—Maybe he felt bad for you, maybe he's just off his rockers, but realize this (because maybe it hadn't occurred to you before): I am NOT HAPPY about it." I paused to take a large inhale.

"Your duties as Head Boy are more important than your duties towards your quidditch team. Who cares about quidditch anyway? You're impressing no one with your attempts to be cool by riding a silly broom.

"Either you cancel your stupid quidditch tryouts or there's no way we are going to work together this year—at all." I wanted to rant on, but Anna came over and grabbed my shoulder. That pulled my attention away from Potter's surprised face, and I looked around the common room. Everyone was staring at me as if I had grown a mustache.

No worse. Everyone was staring at me as if I was a maniac who just went on a five minute yelling spree to one of the most well liked seventh years and the quidditch captain.

I wish I had grown a mustache. Maybe a nice, long one that has the curlicues on the end…

"Lily, let's get you outta here," Anna whispered. I nodded, refusing to look at Potter as I turned to the dorm rooms.

The rest of the day was miserable. If I had thought school was like prison before, I was definitely in Azkaban now. People who had witnessed my yelling spree kept glancing at me, laughing, as I walked by to my classes. I tried to hide behind my friends, but it really didn't work because I was the tallest of the group.

Thankfully, I only had one class with Potter: potions. And I avoided his gaze at all cost. Though, I could feel him staring at my back as I stirred my cauldron of a sleeping draft. It was like he was daring me to look at him, but I admit I was chicken.

At the end of the day, I was departing to my bed when Zoë grabbed me.

"Lily, you can't ignore him forever." She didn't have to say his name. I knew whom she spoke of.

"Yeah, I know," I sighed. "I was planning on finding him tomorrow after breakfast."

And that's what I did.

"Potter!" I called down the hall. He turned and looked with a hesitant smile. Gosh, I felt like the stupidest person in the world. How was I supposed to apologize to the boy who always got under my nerves the wrong way? He drove me crazy!

I approached him slowly, my anxiety making me shy. When I reached him, he gazed down at me, his hazel eyes sparkling with something that looked like mischief. He didn't seem angry at me for my harsh words from earlier. That gave me the courage to go on.

"I feel an apology is necessary for my earlier actions. I really don't know what got into me; I'd like to blame it on lack of sleep, but I understand if you think it's something else…"

He held up a hand to stop me.

"Apology accepted. I understand." He started walking down the hall, and I kept pace with him.

"And I don't think quidditch is stupid, by the way," I felt necessary to add. Potter's eyebrows rose high on his head.

"Then why did you say that it was in the first place?"

"Because I was angry that you could be Head Boy yet still manage to have time for so many other things and everyone thinks you're amazing—"

"—They do?" He grinned.

I wanted to bury myself deep in the dirt. Or maybe take a stroll near the young Whomping Willow. Why was I spilling all of this to the guy that was my enemy? Or was he?

I knew we weren't friends, but nor did I hate him anymore. He was somewhat nice, I suppose I should admit.

"You know what I mean. Everyone thinks _all_ the quidditch players are cool," I said, making sure to stress the "all".

"Well, you don't have to worry about it Evans because I rescheduled quidditch tryouts for next Wednesday instead, so I can come to this little meeting tonight," Potter told me, glancing down at me.

I gasped. "What? You didn't have to do that!"

"Weren't you the one who told me I had to or otherwise we couldn't be friends?"

That got me to pause and blush. "Well, I don't know if I said anything about being friends—but I guess I did mention that you should switch the tryout day… Look, I really am sorry about yesterday. That was all anger talking, and you just happened to be the unfortunate victim of it…"

"What's done is done. Water under the bridge, eh?" He stopped outside a classroom. "This is my next class… I'll see you at the meeting tonight then, right? Or were you still hoping I had tryouts because you wanted to cancel the meeting too?" He smirked.

I gave him my best glare, the one that causes the meek to tremble and break. So, of course Potter didn't.

"Bye, Li—Evans." He walked into the classroom without another glance back. I wasn't sure why, but that really bothered me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone! Thanks for reading! I'm extremely sorry for taking so long to update. I will try to do better, but I shouldn't make any promises since school is starting up again. I really love having any reviews, and please feel free to leave critiques too! I would love to have any advice on how to make my writing flow better and be more enjoyable! This next chapter is a little longer, so I hope it makes up for the long wait. :D Let me know what you think!**

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><p>The meeting was uneventful. I could go as far as to call it dreadfully boring. When it was over, the prefects practically sprinted out of the room, leaving me alone with a wounded pride and James Potter.<p>

I turned to leave with a depressed sigh, waving a quick good-bye to him, but he stopped me.

"Wait up, Evans. You're just going to the common room anyway, right?" he said. I nodded reluctantly. We exited the empty classroom together and entered the vacant hallway in an awkward silence. But it was about to get even more awkward. The hallway was completely empty because it was nine at night and people were in their house common rooms.

No, let me clarify that last statement. The hallway was _almost _empty. And that one, small word made a vast difference.

Of course the one other person to be in it was Severus. His eyes widened when he saw me and Potter come out of the empty classroom together. No doubt he got the completely wrong idea. I wanted to run over and explain the truth, but I reminded myself that we were no longer friends and that he had turned to the Dark Arts.

Potter and I walked by him without so much as a comment or look in Severus's direction, but I could feel his dark eyes watching my back as we walked away.

Once Potter and I reached the stairs he chuckled and asked, "So, you and Snape really aren't speaking anymore? At all?"

I was still sore about the whole Severus thing, but I could tell that Potter wasn't trying to poke fun at Severus or me. So I decided I would tell him.

"No. Severus and I have parted to our separate ways. We were becoming too different. But, you still have no right to treat him like you do!" I told him, becoming angry as I always did when talking about Severus.

Potter looked pained. Good, serves him right!

"Look Evans, I regret my actions towards Snivelly—er, Snape… I really do! I haven't done anything to him for a long time. I've moved past the childish pranks." Potter looked deadly serious.

He was chuckling again. I looked at him questioningly.

"Ahh, sorry. It's just, I can only imagine what Snape must have been thinking when he saw us walk out of the classroom together." He smiled, and I blushed deeply and looked away as fast as I could.

We continued up the next flight of stairs in an awkward silence. On my part, it was because I was busy thinking, which I'm sure Potter wasn't doing.

If Potter was done with his 'childish pranks', as he called them, then what had he been whispering about with his friends in the dining hall on the first day and in the common room? It was true, I hadn't seen him or any of his friends pull a prank all of this year—but that wasn't saying much. It was still September. But I doubted he had even gotten one detention yet. And that _was_ saying something.

So either Potter was lying about something big, or he was actually telling the truth.

Potter interrupted this mind blowing thought. "Just curious—don't you think it odd that you can call Snape by his first name but you call me Potter? I mean, we work together now and everything, right? I might I be so bold as to say that we are kind of friends? And I thought you hated Ol' Sniv—Snape…"

"Well, _Potter_, why do you call me Evans?" He shrugged, looking away. I sighed. "Look, I've known Sev for a long time. Old habits die hard, okay?"

Why was I telling him all of this? I really wasn't sure, but I found that I didn't mind. If this had been a year ago, the mention of Sev's name out of anyone's mouth—especially Potter's—would have left me fuming for a week.

I was healing. The thought struck me like a lightning bolt. I was finally closing my old wounds over my ex- best friend. I was becoming whole again. And the healing had even allowed me to open up and heal my battle scars with Potter, and, as he put it, form a "friendship" with him.

The thought brought a trickle of tears to my eyes.

"Li—Evans?" Potter stopped talking—not that I had been listening to what he had been saying—and looked at me with a worried expression.

Yep, if Potter had looked at me like that a year ago I would have hexed him. The thought made me smile at him through watery eyes. I could almost swear that he blushed slightly.

"Sorry, I'm just tired. Thanks again for making it to the meeting. I'm sorry for snapping at you about… you know." I couldn't bring myself to say Severus's name again.

I parted to my dormitory room before he could say anything else. With my own room to myself as Head Girl, I could cry without anyone bothering me. I laid facedown on my bed and sobbed. Like a baby.

My conversation with Potter disturbed me more than words could describe. It was probably because it caused me to realize that Potter was the decent one and Severus was the cruel one—the opposite of my younger self's beliefs.

Was I blind before? Or had it been Potter and Sev who had changed?

The more I thought about it the more I realized that this was the way it always would have turned out. Even if I could have gone back in time, Severus was always going to have picked the Dark Arts over our friendship. And Potter, no matter how troublesome he had been while younger, would never have done that.

I let these thoughts consume me as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning after breakfast, despite the fact that it was Saturday, I headed off to the library. I had a lot of work to get done on my Transfiguration essay and I knew I would never finish it in time if I didn't start early.

I had been in the library for over an hour and it had been mostly empty of students. But then I heard the library doors creak open. I glanced up and the blonde girl who had given me trouble on the Hogwarts Express walked in.

I had almost forgotten about her… almost. I quickly tried hiding behind one of the many textbooks I had piled on my table, but it was to no avail since I was the only student in sight.

She came and sat down across from me.

"Hi Lily," she said quickly. I peeked up from behind the textbook. For some reason, my dislike of her had grown even more since I had last seen her, and I wasn't sure why.

"Um, hi…" I realized that I didn't even know her name, though it was unsurprising that she knew mine, as I was Head Girl.

"My name is Rebecca." She smiled widely, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Her large, round eyes had a faraway look in them, as if she was in two places at once. But oddly, the look only made her seem even more alert to her surroundings… if that makes any sense. I didn't have any time to ponder this thought.

Rebecca flicked her hair over her shoulder nervously. "So, you and James have been spending a lot of time together…" She stopped and looked at me to confirm this.

I glared. Why was it any of her business? "We have only been spending time together for things relating to Head Boy and Girl stuff." We aren't even friends, I thought. I mean, Potter said we were friends, but I still didn't consider us close enough to call it friendship. But for some reason I didn't want to tell Rebecca that. I wanted to lie and tell her that Potter and I were excellent friends.

Rebecca smiled again but this time for real.

"Oh, I understand," she said slowly, studying my face intently as if to see if I lied. "Well, me and James go waaaay back, you see. I've known him practically my whole life. His parents are friends with mine…"

I wasn't sure why she was telling me this. Did she want to be my friend? Or was she secretly telling me to keep away from Potter?

I didn't care for the first idea at all. And as for the latter, well, I had no intentions of becoming any closer to him than I already was. I didn't voice either of these opinions. Instead I said, "Wow, you two must be really close then." Yet he didn't show any recognition of you when I asked him in the Great Hall, I thought with a smile.

Rebecca continued to beam at me happily, and it made me want to spit in her face. A somewhat harsh reaction seeing as I hardly knew her, I know, but I couldn't help the thought.

"Yes, James and I have been friends forever, and I know he took an interest in you a year or so ago." She paused and I felt my face flush as I remembered all the times Potter had asked me out in the past. It had bothered me so much then, yet the lack of it now bothered me too.

"Well, as you said on the train he doesn't care for me anymore, remember?" I told her, somewhat sarcastically. What I was screaming to say was, "Why are you talking to me?" But I didn't. I can contain my temper… usually.

Rebecca looked away for the first time.

"I'm sorry if you think it's weird of me to ask, but you don't like James that way, do you? You know, more than friendship?" Her voice was soft but fierce. And it made me angry. Very.

So much for containing my temper.

"Look, Rebecca, I don't know why Potter lets you poke into his personal life, but I really don't care for you to stick your miserable minuscule mentality in mine, okay?" I was practically shouting my head off, but somehow (mostly luck) it managed to stay connected to my neck.

I grabbed my books and shoved them into my bag before I practically sprinted to the door.

I didn't stop my fast shuffle until I reached the Gryffindor common room. Panting and full of anger, I sat down in a comfy sofa.

Thoughts conducted a large orchestra in my brain. Why was Rebecca asking me these questions? Why did Potter pretend not to know her when I asked about her? And what was Potter up to? I had seen him whispering with Sirius Black earlier that day, but they had hushed up as soon as I had gotten close enough to hear.

There was only thing I knew with certainty, and that was: starting tomorrow, I would spend the rest of the school year hunting down the answers to these questions. I wasn't sure why, but I had the feeling knowing these answers would make a huge difference in my life.

Now the question was: was the difference bad or good?


	7. Chapter 7

"**O**kay, partner up!" called the teacher. I sighed and looked around the room. None of my close friends were in the class with me, and so partnering up was the last thing I wanted to do.

"Wanna be my partner?" a deep voice said from behind me. I spun around to see who my savior was and saw Remus Lupin. I smiled, relief washing over me like a tide from the ocean. Remus and I weren't close, but I still considered us friends.

"Of course… But I thought you would be partnered with Sirius…" I trailed off, looking around for his friend.

"He's sick today," Remus explained, while sitting down in the chair next to mine. I studied his face. I doubted that Sirius was actually sick; he was probably skipping in order to pull a prank. This thought brought me to my resolution I had made the night before. To find out what Potter and his friends were up to. And working with Remus would be a perfect opportunity!

I grinned to myself while opening my textbook to the page with our assignment on it. I had been friends with Remus for several years now, and I knew he was a werewolf, but I had never mentioned it to anyone else, as he had asked me not to. So none of my friends knew about his condition—unless Potter and his gang count as my friends… which I don't think so!

After about fifteen minutes of studying, I began my attack on Remus like a hawk swooping down on its prey.

"So, Remus, what have you and your friends been up to this year? Why the lack of pranks?" My curiosity heightened when Remus tensed up, as if the question was one he wanted to avoid.

He shrugged. "Guess we've just run out of good ideas… And how's your year been?" he said quickly, grasping to change the topic.

I frowned, narrowing my eyes in mock anger. I whacked him lightheartedly on the shoulder. "Don't try to change the subject!" I teased. But despite my joking tone, Remus remained uncomfortable. He remained stone silent. "Okay… Now I'm really curious."

Remus fidgeted around in his chair. "We should keep working on trying to turn this bench into a couch."

"Come on, Remus. Please! I really want to know! We're friends, aren't we?"

He sighed, frowning. "Yes… but, Lily, I can't tell you what we're doing. It's serious stuff…" He went back to reading the textbook to avoid my eyes.

"What do you mean, 'serious stuff'?" I didn't think Potter and his friends were capable of anything serious.

"Lily, I'm sure you'll find out eventually. I'm not going to tell you. James will kill me if I do," Remus stated with a grave face. "Please, don't ask me again." His deadly tone finally got to me and I shut up.

After we finally focused on our task, we were quickly successful in reaching our objective. To my pleasure, we were the first to finish. We sat and watched the groups around us struggle with their benches. I saw Severus across the room with a fellow slytherin. I was sure that his friend was also into the Dark Arts. They had turned their bench into a bathtub on accident. I giggled to myself, but flushed when Severus caught my eye.

This time I didn't look away; I stared back at him unabashed. I wouldn't back down. He wasn't going to cause me pain anymore. Severus looked surprised when I met his eye, and after a second he looked down in an ashamed manner.

Remus saw this happen, but he had the wits not to mention it to me. I sent an unheard thank you to him in my mind.

**L**ater that day, I walked to potions with Zoë, Anna, and Mary. I hadn't really spent a lot of time with them this year because I was so busy with class work and Head Girl duties, and so there was a lot of catching up to do on the walk to the dungeons.

Anna walked on my left. "So, Lily, do you still like John Isons?" she asked quietly. All three friends waited solemnly for my response.

I had honestly almost forgotten all about John. We didn't have any classes together, and I didn't go out of my way to talk to him.

I laughed ridiculously loud and my friends looked at me as if I was crazy… maybe I was.

"Sorry, no, no, I don't like him like that anymore," I reassured them. All three of them let out a collective sigh causing me to become very suspicious. "Wait! why do you ask?"

Anna blushed a deep red. "He… John asked to take me out on the first trip to Hogsmeade," she whispered. Her face turned redder and she looked like a cherry tomato. It would have been funny if I hadn't been so surprised.

Maybe a month ago I would have been a little upset, but I found that now I was genuinely happy for Anna. She had never had a boyfriend before, and so I was excited for her. I told her this, and she smiled.

When we entered potions, Zoë sat next to me. She leaned near my ear and whispered, "Thanks for telling that to Anna. It really means a lot to her."

I grinned. "I told her the truth. I really am happy for her."

Zoë looked hesitant. She glanced over at Anna and Mary who were busy chatting two rows ahead of us. "Really? You seemed pretty set on him at the beginning of the year… Is there a reason—or should I say guy—that has made you suddenly forget him?" Zoë casually glanced over her shoulder and looked at the chair James Potter was sitting in across the room.

I didn't bother getting angry with her over this question. We had had it too many times, and she already knew the answer. But I still narrowed my green eyes at her.

"How many times do we have to have this conversation, Zoë?" My friend held up her hands in an easy defeat.

"Sorry, just can't help wondering. You do seem to spend _a lot_ of time with him…"

"That's because he's Head Boy and I'm Head Girl!" I said, exasperated. I felt like I had had this conversation at least twenty times. "Honestly, why does everyone seem to be asking me that?" I crossly took out my potions book from my bag and slammed it on the desk.

"Who else has asked you that?" Zoë asked, calm in the face of my total irritation.

I waved my hand in a dismissing manner. "Just a Ravenclaw girl named Rebecca. Sixth year student. It's actually kind of creepy that she takes so much interest in Potter…"

Zoë glanced behind her to look at Potter again, and I poked her in the ribs.

"Stop looking at him like that! He'll know we're talking about him." Zoë just sighed at my stubbornness.

"Oh, honestly… But that is odd. Why does that girl—Rebecca—care so much about James?"

I was about to reply when Professor Slughorn started the day's lesson, and any chance for chatter died. The lesson, which I usually find interesting to listen to (unlike to most people, such as Zoë who was drooling next to me) was hard to concentrate on. In my mind, my conversation with Zoë repeated over and over. And over.

I kept glancing over my shoulder to look at Potter, as if seeing his form would suddenly help me figure out why Rebecca had taken such an interest in me and him. Eventually, I gave up, surrendering my thoughts to the potions lesson.

**A** half an hour went by before we were told to start working on a potion to show the teacher at the end of the class.

I flipped through my book, deciding on a particularly hard one to try and impress Slughorn and make up for my restlessness during his lecture.

"Evans," a familiar voice said behind my ear. I glanced up and saw Potter leaning over my shoulder looking at the potion recipe I had chosen. "Well, that looks like a lot of fun to make," he said sarcastically, scanning the list of fifty items.

I scowled at him and tried to hide the book from view. "Is there something you need?" I said in voice that I was attempting to make sound nice.

I saw that Zoë was watching our interaction with fascination, and I glared her way. She didn't seem to notice—or she did but she didn't care. It was most likely the latter of the two.

"Actually Evans, there's something you need," Potter told me. I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"And that would be…?"

He leaned closer to me, and a chill went down my spine...


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it's been sooooo long! I've been really busy with school work. I also was having a hard time writing this chapter-that's why it's so short. I have some good ideas for upcoming chapters, so the story should get better next chaper (I hope! :) ) Yeah, please leave comments! Let me know if there is anything I should change. **

"Actually Evans, there's something you need," Potter told me. I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"And that would be…?"

He leaned closer to me, and a chill went down my spine. Looking in my eyes, Potter smiled at my discomfort. He got closer yet and was towering over me.

"A snake skin," he said, pointing at the list of ingredients I had attempted to hide behind me. "You don't have any, but you need it for after you put in the dragon heart string."

I let out a slow, silent sigh. I grabbed the list, avoiding Potter's intense eyes, and saw that I was indeed in need of a snake skin. I swore quietly and looked at Zoë.

She shook her head. "I don't have any snake skin," she told me loudly, her voice echoing oddly around the room causing people in class to look up from their own copper cauldrons to look at the three of us.

"Not to worry, Evans. I bought snake skin in Diagon Alley to ensure I had some for potions this year, so you're in luck." He went to his desk, grabbed a glass bottle, and brought it back to where I stood waiting silently. I felt my face flush at his kind gesture.

"Thanks," I muttered. Potter nodded.

"Also, I was wondering when we should get together to plan out prefect chores for next month," he said. And so we settled out a time in a week and would meet in the Gryffindor common room.

The end of the week brought the first quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. At the beginning of the year I would have probably gone to support John Isons, but I found myself walking alongside my friends to the field with only thoughts of Gryffindor winning.

Anna, other the other hand, wouldn't stop talking about John and Ravenclaw.

"I wish I had been in Ravenclaw," she sighed. Anna and John had only been going out for a week, and I had never seen her so out of the present. She was constantly daydreaming. Honestly, it was annoying. I was trying to feel excited for her, but she was making it _very_ difficult.

"Well, you're not!" I snapped at her. My friends looked at me, surprise written on their faces. Anna's face flushed, and I immediately felt guilt wash over me.

I coughed awkwardly into my sleeve before saying, "We better hurry if we want to get good seats!" I rushed ahead of my friends to the stairs of the Gryffindor section of the arena.

As we sat down, I made sure to be farthest from Anna. Zoë sat on my right. She leaned close to my ear as we watched the quidditch players take the field.

"What was that about?" she whispered. I debated whether or not I should play innocent. I decided against it.

I sighed. "I don't really know. I'm happy for Anna, truly I am." My voice drifted off.

Down below, the quidditch players were getting into their starting positions. I immediately picked out Potter. His eyebrows were drawn in with concentration. He seemed to be scanning the Gryffindor section for someone—probably his friends.

"Hello? Lily, are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" Anna said. I looked away from Potter and at my friend next to me.

"Uhh, sorry," I told her. Guilt prickled my stomach. I was so distracted lately. Without knowing a cause, I didn't know what to do about it.

Zoë frowned before starting up again. "Well, I was saying that you should be happy for Anna. After all, you said you don't care for John anymore…" She looked at me as if expecting me to contradict her.

I did nothing of the sort.

Zoë continued to stare at me with an odd expression on her face. "You know, Lily, you're acting even weirder than Anna is lately… at least Anna has an excuse. Unless, of course, you're head over heals in love too…" She grinned at her joke.

For some reason I didn't find it funny at all. I ignored her, looking at the quidditch game which had just started.

"See! You just proved my point! There was a time you would've laughed along with me," Zoë said. Still, I didn't look at her and concentrated on the intense game. She finally caught on that I really wasn't in a good mood. She awkwardly shifted to her right to talk with Mary. In their intense whispering I could occasionally make out a mention of my name, but I chose to ignore them anyway.

As I watched one of the Gryffindor beaters whack a blugger at the Ravenclaw seeker, I realized that Zoë was right. I was acting different this year. I hadn't really talked to Zoë this year, I mean really talked. Before, we would tell each other everything we thought. Now I was keeping all my closest thoughts to myself.

The odd thing was, I wasn't really sad about this. I still had Zoë as a close friend, but I didn't rely on her as much as I used to. I was becoming more independent. I guess you could say I was growing up—a somewhat depressing thought.

"And Potter scores! 110 points to 50 points, Gryffindor!" the announcer shouted out. I grinned as the whole Gryffindor section stood up and screamed happily. My friends and I joined the laughter.

The carefree sounds of the match continued to echo in my ear as I headed back to the Common Room. But this was soon to change.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! I hope this chapter is an improvement from the previous one, as promised. Thanks to all the people who have left reviews! I hope to hear more from you. :)**

I made my way to Potions class Monday morning. I usually walked with Zoë, but she was visiting Madame Pomffrey with a terrible cold, so I was by myself.

"Hey Evans!" a voice called from down the hall behind me. I didn't need to turn around to recognize it. Potter easily caught up to me. I only quickly glanced up at him. He seemed to be in an excellent mood. He was wearing a large grin, no doubt due to the recent victory over Ravenclaw.

I, on the other hand, wasn't so cheerful. I hadn't had time to complete my potions essay over the weekend because… well, I wasn't really sure why. I just didn't do it. Honestly, I had know idea what was going on with me this year

"So, are you up to patrolling the corridor this evening?" Potter asked. He stared at me in concentration, as if his eyes would force me to agree. As Head Boy and Girl, we were supposed to walk the corridors from 9 to 11pm at least once a week.

"I'd love to," I said a little sarcastically. If he noticed, he chose to ignore it. Instead, his grin widened.

"Meet at the usual spot," he said, referring to the entrance to the Gryffindor dormitory. I nodded quickly.

* * *

><p>Later in Potions, I sat stirring a Freezing Potion. It was a dull process; every ingredient needed to be stirred when added for 15 minutes. I guess to say it was dull would be an understatement—it was tedious!<p>

Without Zoë to talk to I was even more bored. I glanced at Anna and Mary sitting in front of me. I was being ignored. I guess I deserved it because I hadn't been very… friendly to either of them lately. What was wrong with me?

I sighed, gazing at my now molten purple colored potion. It bubbled and gurgled in a slow fashion. Professor Slughorn strolled by and patted my red hair.

"Excellent as always, Lily, keep up the good work!"

I could see Potter and his friends smirking across the room. Well, not Remus. He would never smirk at me. The four of them, Potter, Remus, Sirius, and Peter, started to talk quietly. I tried to pick up what they were saying.

"…never going to work James!..." I heard Sirius whisper. James looked livid and gave his friend a light whack on the shoulder.

"I _will_ make it work," he retorted loudly before being shushed by his friends.

"She'll never… always…. not good… hates…" Sirius continued. If only he would talk a little louder; I couldn't pick out most of what he was saying. What I could make out wasn't very helpful.

Just then, Sirius, Potter, Remus, and Peter all looked across the room and straight at me. My faced turned cherry red, I'm sure of it. I snapped my face down back to my potion in embarrassment, only to see that it had turned an ugly dark brown.

No! I had stirred it too long. The whole potion was ruined. My humiliation was complete when Professor Slughorn passed by and saw the mess. His eyebrows rose so high, they disappeared under his receding hairline. He didn't make a comment, but the look was enough to show the surprise and disappointment he had.

I couldn't wait for class to end, and in ten minutes it did. The bell rang dismissing us, and I made to run from the classroom. To my surprise, Potter beat me to be the first one out. He stormed out of the room with a look opposite of the one he had worn when I had walked to class with him. He now looked completely ticked off.

* * *

><p>Later that day, I passed Rebecca in the hall. Her round eyes flickered with recognition as she saw me, but she didn't smile. Instead, she glanced down at the ground and rushed by.<p>

It was weird. She had seemed so confident and full of herself when she had cornered me in the library, and now she seemed embarrassed about it.

It put the thought at the back of my mind. Rebecca was the least of my worries. I still had to finish my potions essay, and I had a large transfiguration project to work on tonight. Plus, I had to patrol the corridors for two hours with Potter. Sigh.

It was already six o'clock. That gave me three hours to do homework before I had to meet with Potter. I started to walk the familiar path that would bring me to the Gryffindor common room. People around me shuffled past trying to find a comfortable place in the school to study. Most people weren't stopping to chat with others, so it caught my eye when I saw a tall boy leaning against the wall on the 5th floor. Then I realized it was Potter. Then I realized he was snogging a petite brunette who was leaning against the wall. As Head Girl, I am supposed to tell students to not display that sort of behavior in the hallways, but I found I couldn't.

I admit, I was surprised. And seriously grossed out. My immediate reaction was to go grab the girl by her hair and push her down the staircase I had just recently vacated. I pushed that urge away and walked past the two without any comment. Other students walking down the hall were staring at Potter and the girl too, and it made me feel totally humiliated. Potter was Head Boy! What was he thinking, setting such a bad example? I was horrified.

There was one thing for sure: I was not patrolling the corridors with him tonight.

I finally reached the Gryffindor common room. Going up the last couple flights of stairs, I had two images in my mind. One of Potter snogging that girl, and the other of Rebecca. She was grinning at me, as if to say, "I told you so!"

I grimaced. At least it wasn't Rebecca who had been snogging Potter. I silently gagged at the thought. Then I wondered why I cared who Potter was with. I supposed it was probably because I strongly disliked Rebecca and hoped she would live to be a lonely old maid. Yeah, that was why.

In the common room, I headed straight for my room. It was separated from the rest of the dormitories, a privilege of being Head Girl. There was no staircase to get to my room. The door was right where everyone could see it in the common room. This was so people could come to me if they ever needed help. I was supposed to be available for any student at all times.

Potter also had his own room. The door to his was right next to mine, for the same reasons. Although, I highly doubted anyone would ever go to him for help!

In my room, I spread out on my large bed facedown and screamed into my pillow. Why was Potter so irresponsible? And why did I even care?

I felt my eyes well up with unshed tears. But I refused to let them flow. I would not cry simply because I was upset that Potter was annoying, and selfish, and pigheaded, and self-centered, and infuriating, and—

There was a knock on my door. I cursed under my breath. I wanted to finish my rant about Potter. It had better not be a kid wanting my advice, I thought. I walked over to the door, quickly brushing hair out of my eyes and praying that my they didn't look too red or watery.

"Yes?" I snapped, opening the door. Of course, there stood Potter. Obviously, he had decided to stopped snogging that girl and come up here.

"Anna wanted me to tell you that Mary said that…" he stopped when he saw my face. It was probably contorted in rage. "Are you okay?" he asked. His voice was annoyingly concerned, and he reached out to grab my shoulder. I pulled away.

"_Don't_ touch me." Potter was surprised by my anger. He took a step back.

"Right. I just thought… as a… friend, you looked like you needed… Well, Anna… or maybe it was Mary… _Somebody_ wanted me to tell you that Zoë is looking for you." He sighed as he finished, shoving his hands in his pockets looking flustered.

I refused to let my face show any emotion. He had called us _friends_. Ha, like I would ever want to be his friend. "Well thanks. I better go get her then." I closed my door and headed for the girl's staircase without looking back at Potter.

"Are we still patrolling tonight?" he called after me. I didn't answer him; I just kept walking. I hope he was standing there with his mouth agape in surprise. I hope he felt as confused and angry as I felt.


	10. Chapter 10

I found Zoë resting on her bed in the 7th year dorm room. She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut, and she looked absolutely miserable. Her face was tinted a light green. She obviously hadn't recovered from her illness.

"Do you want me to bring you back to Madame Promfrey?" I asked her, breaking the silence. At the sound of my soft voice Zoë became aware of my presence for the first time. Her eyes snapped open. Their light blue irises were misty as if she had been recently crying.

"I'm not sick, Lily," she said. Her voice was firm and unwavering. I raised an eyebrow at Zoë. From my friend's looks there was no way she wasn't sick, but I decided to play along with Zoë's game.

"You're not sick, huh? Well, what are you then?" I asked.

"Someone hexed me on my way back to the Gryffindor common room. I have a feeling it was one of the Marauders… you know, they find this kind of thing funny." Zoë looked in the mirror. She pointed her face. "I look hideous! I told Anna to find you and ask you to help me. Anna tried everything, but she couldn't fix it… You can help, right?"

I studied Zoë's problem, getting a better look than I had before. It _did_ look like someone had hexed her to make her look sick. Yep, it was definitely something Potter would do. But then again, why would he have told me that Zoë needed me if he was to blame for her condition? I pushed this thought aside. It was Potter, I assured myself. I just wanted—no needed—to blame him for something.

"I'll see what I can do," I told my friend.

They next day, I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all. I had spent a full hour getting rid of the hex on Zoë. I was feeling even more ungrateful towards James Potter than I had in previous years!

The only idea that made me get up was knowing that I had the first hour of the day free of classes. I decided that I would spend it relaxing in the hopefully empty common room.

Twenty minutes later, I left my room to sit by the fire. The whole common room was deserted except for Mary, as most people were at their classes Tuesday morning. I had the hour off to work on Head Girl duties—something I wasn't in the mood for doing today.

Mary was skipping class to finish an essay. I thought she would continue to ignore me like she had all week, but she looked up and smiled. Apparently, she was only ignoring me when Anna was around. That's… frustrating.

"Hey," she said. "Will you help me with this essay?" Then again, maybe she was just talking to me in order to get homework help…

I sighed. "I guess. Let me see what you have so far." She tossed her notebook at me. I caught it and began reading the first lines. I winced at the number of errors. It was almost blinding.

"It's that bad, huh?" Mary said, reading my face.

I cleared my throat and sat down next to her at the table. "Oh no, no… It just needs a little… work." I reached for my favorite quill in my bag. As I started making corrections, Mary attempted polite conversation.

"Do you like being Head Girl, Lily? Is it a lot of work?" she asked.

I shrugged. "It has its ups and downs. I do love the responsibility though," I replied. _Except when I don't_, I added silently.

"I think I would like it just so I could be with James Potter," Mary sighed in a nauseating way. I looked up and laughed quite unattractively.

"Since when have you been in love with Potter?" I laughed. Mary frowned at me.

"You know, Lily, you haven't been exactly friendly to any of us lately. It makes it hard to tell you anything!" She flicked her brown hair over her shoulder in an irritated manner.

My face heated up. Then I froze. Was Mary the one who I had seen with Potter yesterday? It was definitely possible. How could this have happened without me knowing it?

"Um, Mary, does Potter know that you… like him?" My heart pounded loudly, my silent screaming at it did nothing to quiet it.

Mary looked down at her pale hands and sighed, shaking her head.

"No. But I figured it's been years, and you still don't like him… so why can't I? You're not upset, are you?" She asked.

I forced a smile. "Nah, why should I care? Potter and I aren't even friends!" I spoke harsher than I had meant to, but I couldn't get the image of Potter kissing the girl out of my mind. I should have probably told Mary about that incident, but I didn't want to come across as jealous.

Mary seemed surprised. "You're not friends at all? But you work together as Heads! I thought you would've overcome your differences by now."

Without thinking I said, "Potter and I will never overcome our differences—we will never be friends. I hate him."

There was a crashing noise on the far end of the common room. Both Mary and I jumped up, but I didn't see anyone.

"Who's there?" I called out. Of course, there was no answer. I glanced around, but I didn't see anything that had fallen over. The room looked as deserted and untouched as it had before. Mary nervously inched closer to me.

"Do you think someone is here?" she whispered cautiously.

"Nah, it was probably someone's cat in their dorm room," I said. I knew that many of the Gryffindors had cats at school with them, and it was the only logical explanation.

"Come on, let's get back to work," I told Mary, looking at her. She cowered next to me, shaking. It was beyond me how she had been put into Gryffindor all those years ago, as she jumped at the smallest noises.

Eventually she calmed down and I was able to help her complete the essay. It was messy at best, but I had better things to worry about than Mary's homework.

Later as I sat relaxing by the fire, I felt a guilty feeling ripple across my body, like a tidal wave. I couldn't believe I had said that I hated Potter. It wasn't true at all; I could admit that to _myself_. I was just so angry at what I had seen yesterday. I had thought he was more responsible than that.

I wanted to kick myself in the face, but thankfully I not that flexible.

It was going to be another long day. I seemed to be having a lot of those recently.

As I walked into the Great Hall for lunch, I noticed that my friends were sitting next to Potter and his gang. It wasn't the first time this had happened, but I didn't want to go anywhere near Potter, especially after our last encounter last night.

Anna, Mary, and Zoë all seemed quite happy. They were laughing at something Sirius was saying. Potter's friends seemed very jolly too. In fact, as I got closer, I noticed that the only person who didn't seem content was Potter himself. His eyebrows were narrowed in a look of rage as he stabbed at his potatoes.

"Hi guys!" I lilted. All my friends smiled at me, even Anna. She must have finally forgiven me. I sat down next to her in the only empty seat—and unfortunately it was across from Potter.

"Hey Lily!" Sirius said cheerfully. I smiled warmly at him. When he wasn't joking around all the time, Sirius could be quite nice.

I helped myself to a cheese sandwich and salad.

"So, Evans, what was up with last night?" Potter asked me through clenched teeth. I slowly looked up from my food to meet his hazel eyes. He looked about to explode.

_Ha, like he has a right to be pissed off,_ I thought. He was the one who went about snogging in the hallway!

"I was having a bad night…" I told him, trying to keep my voice civil. It didn't really work. My anger was apparent to everyone around me, and all my friends and Potter's friends stopped talking to watch the two of us.

"Yeah, well I guess if we were _friends_ we could have talked about it and worked something out," Potter retorted. His face was turning pink in rage.

"What are you trying to say?" I spat back.

"What I'm saying is that maybe you shouldn't hate someone you hardly even know. Maybe you should give me a chance to be your friend," seethed. "Not that I care anymore. No one is worthy to stand before the mighty perfect Head Girl."

That's when it hit me. Potter had somehow overheard my conversation with Mary that morning. He had eavesdropped! _He_ must have been the crashing noise we had heard!

I pushed my chair away from the table and stood up angrily, spilling pumpkin juice everywhere.

"Yeah, and no one wants to be around a selfish, eavesdropping womanizer!" I yelled.

Potter's face was practically purple by now. He opened his mouth wide to shout back, but I quickly took Sirius's cup of juice out of his hand, as mine had already spilled, and splashed it in Potter's face.

I spun around and walked away from the table before he had the chance to do anything to me in return. As I walked out, I was aware that the whole Great Hall was watching me. They had no doubt seen the whole scene. My heart ached with unbearable pain. Potter and I hadn't had a fight comparable to that one since the beginning of sixth year. It must be because we're the Heads, and I'm embarrassed that people saw us acting that way, I thought. But I felt like that wasn't the only reason why. I pushed this scary idea aside.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi! Sorry it's been so long again. I've gotten lazy... And it's been a busy school year. Anyway, I finally managed to find time to write this short chapter. It's kind of a cliff hanger, so I'll try to add the next chapter soon! Please leave some reviews! :)**

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed in slow agony. I hardly said a word to my friends. I could see them whispering behind my back; they got dead quiet whenever I approached them. They weren't the only ones talking about me. I saw complete strangers in the hall point me out to their friends, no doubt laughing about my foolish display earlier in the Great Hall. I wanted to scream in frustration. I had worked so hard to create a good image of myself as Head Girl, and now I was the laughing stock of Hogwarts.<p>

I wanted to blame Potter, but this time I wouldn't. I had no choice; I would have to apologize to him.

For the rest of the day, I looked around the school for Potter, searching all his classrooms and the Gryffindor Common Room. He wasn't anywhere to be found. Frustration was starting to take hold of me. I was down to my last option—talking to his friends.

I was in the hall walking to the Common Room, when I spotted Peter and Sirius laughing together a couple yards in front of me. I walked over to them.

"Do you know where Potter is?" I asked Peter. He seemed nervous and hesitant to speak, so I added, "Is something wrong?"

Sirius, who was walking on the other side of Peter, just laughed.

"Nah, nothing's the matter with ol' Wormy here. He's just not used to having pretty girls talk to him," he chortled.

I felt myself blush deep red, not sure how to respond. So I didn't.

Sirius continued. "Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone this—but I don't think you're just anyone—so I'll tell you that Prongs is probably out in the Forbidden Forest."

A shiver went up my spine. "What? Why's he in there?" I asked trying to remain calm.

Sirius laughed again. "Wow Evans, by the look on your face I'd say you were sweet on the poor boy." My fear gone, my face bristled in rage. Sirius held up his hands in surrender. "Only joking! Jeez. Anyway, don't tell me you've been at Hogwarts for over six years and have never been inside the Forest!"

I looked away, self-conscious. This conversation was not going as I had wanted at all. And Sirius knew it too. He smirked.

"Well how about that! Ah, I won't bug you much more, or I'm sure I'll here about it later from James… Ehh, if you want to find him, take the trail—the dirt path—into the Forest. Go in about sixty yards. Then look up. James will be there."

With that, Sirius grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him off before I could ask any more questions.

The Forbidden Forest… Great, I was going to get myself killed just to apologize to Potter. This day was not going as planned. At all.

* * *

><p>I followed the trail just as Sirius said. When I got to the edge of the trees I took a huge breath in hoping it wouldn't be my last.<p>

The trees' spidery arms reached into the air, blocking out the sky as if trying to grasp the moon. I heard a loud howl come from within their arms, but it sounded more like it was coming from the pits of hell.

My arms shook slightly as I started through the long-limbed trees. But I wasn't going to let myself be stopped by a strange animal's howl or a couple of tall plants.

I walked the sixty yards that Sirius said to walk, and I came to a large tree. It seemed even bigger than the rest—if that was possible. 'Look up' Sirius had said.

So I did.

And I almost fell over in shock. There was James Potter, sitting on one of the branches twenty yards off the ground with his back resting against the trunk of the tree. He had a vacant expression on his face and didn't seem to notice me as he stared off in the distance.

"Potter, what on Earth are you doing up there?" I called up. He blinked, as if noticing me for the first time, but he didn't look at me. Or acknowledge my presence in any other way.

"Please, Potter, come down. I need to talk with you," I tried again. Still, no answer. Frustration seared in my belly. I walked into the Forbidden Forest to talk with him, and I wasn't going to back down now.

Then, an idea struck me... the only way for him to come down. I had to take him by surprise.

"James…" The name tasted odd on my lips, though not unpleasant.

He looked down when I said his first name, with a strange look on his face.

"Lily," he whispered in a strangled sounding voice, but it was so quiet that it could have been the wind playing tricks with my mind.

I took a deep breath and continued. "James, I came to apologize for my behavior before. You were… right" It was the first time I had admitted to him being right about anything out loud, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I felt myself blushing anyway.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew through the forest, and James had to grab the tree for support.

"Please come down," I asked softly. I was sick of talking up into the tree. Plus, watching Potter almost fall out of it wasn't particularly thrilling.

He actually did what I asked. In less than a minute he was standing in front of me, gazing down so he could look into my eyes with his hazel ones...


	12. Chapter 12

**So, I just wanted to start out by saying that yes, I realize it's been months and months since I last posted. So, I'm sorry, I guess. Not that apologizing makes it any better… Anyway, I'm kind of working on an actual story that I hope to publish sometime, so that takes up most of my free time. BUT enough with excuses! I will try to keep writing this… slowly. I will warn you, my writing for this story is a little rusty!**

…. "Please come down," I asked softly. I was sick of talking up into the tree. Plus, watching Potter almost fall out of it wasn't thrilling.

People don't joke when they say life is full of surprises because he actually did what I asked. In less than a minute he was standing in front of me, gazing down so he could look into my eyes…..

He had the oddest expression on his face. He didn't speak, just kept looking into my eyes. I felt my face flush and looked at the ground.

"Thanks, Potter," I said. "I was starting to worry that you would fall out of the tree."

My statement was met with silence. I glanced up and saw that Potter's eyebrows were scrunched up, and his hazel eyes had become little slits.

"Well, _Evans_, I'm glad you were _so _concerned about my wellbeing."

Ah, that's why he was angry. He actually wanted me to call him James! I didn't know if I could do it. I was so used to calling him by his surname.

"Please don't be angry with me. I just want to talk," I whispered, scared that he would walk away, unwilling to forgive. Potter's expression softened, his forehead unwrinkled. "I wanted to ask you to forgive me for dumping juice on you… and for yelling at you… and for… for… you get the point," I finished. It was somewhat humiliating telling Potter everything that I had done wrong to him—because it was a lot.

Potter nodded his head. "I'll accept your apology on one condition." I wasn't sure I wanted to know what it was. I waited. "That you call me James from now on."

I stared at him. "That's it?" He nodded. "Well, okay… James…" That caused him to break out into a wide grin.

"I guess I should apoligize for my behavior too," he muttered. "I have been acting rather... difficult. I promise you I have a good reason for all my actions." His voice trailed off and he looked embarrassed.

A howl came from somewhere deep in the forest, bringing me back to the reality that we were in the Forbidden Forest.

"Can we get out of here?" I looked around and felt fear creeping into me. Then I heard branches cracking, as if someone—or something—was approaching us.

I looked at Potter in horror. "What's that noise?"

He shook his head and said the obvious, "we better get out of here!" I could tell he was trying to stay calm, but he looked scared too. He started running towards the entrance to the forest, but his long legs carried him a lot faster than mine could. I was falling behind.

I glanced behind me and saw a creature twenty feet behind me and gaining on me. I wasn't even sure what it was. It looked like a cross between a wolf and a hippopotamus. "Potter!" I screamed.

He looked back and I swear his eyes almost fell out of his head. He stopped and sprinted back to me, grabbing my hand and helping me run. He went so fast, my feet were literally not touching the ground.

Before I could blink, we were outside the forest. And Potter didn't stop, he charged on. I looked behind us and saw that the beast hadn't followed us outside of the forest.

"Potter," I said. "POTTER!" He slowed down. "It didn't follow us, you can stop." He did as told.

We stood silently, trembling. I stared at him and he stared at me, wide-eyed and gasping for breath.

"Uh, Potter? You can let go now," I finally said. He looked surprised to see that he was still holding my hand and tried to pry his fingers open. It was difficult because I had clenched onto them so hard.

When he pulled his hand free, he massaged his fingers. They had started to turn purple under the pressure I had created.

"Don't even know my own strength," I said with a faint smile, and he rolled his eyes at me.

"You broke your promise, Evans," he lectured. I raised my eyebrows at him. "You promised to call me James!"

Oh. Right. "Well, sorry if getting attacked by some rabies infested animal throws me off guard."

He returned the eyebrow raise. "It had rabies?"

"Well… probably… just go with it, okay!"

He grinned at my lame response and started to walk back up to the castle, leaving me trying to keep up.

"What were you doing in the forest anyway?" I shouted after him.

He turned around and waited for me to catch up. "I was living a little, Lily. Enjoying life. What's life without a little danger?"

We reached the front doors and he held the door open for me. _What a gentleman, _I thought sarcastically. Inside, the school was packed. People were rushing back and forth, bumping into one another and yelling.

"Must be passing time," I said, stupidly. I started walking towards the staircase.

"Where are you going?"

I looked back. "I'm going to class, Po—James. Where else?"

He ran up the stairs to stand in front of me. "I absolutely refuse to let you do such a stupid thing," he told me. I gave him a defensive look. "Look, Lily, you were almost attacked back there! And now you want to go to class? You've got to be joking."

But I wasn't... "Well, what do you suggest doing instead?"

He gave me his best evil grin.


	13. Chapter 13

**So, thank you to the one person who left a review! Here's another short chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to review and please let me know if anything needs to be corrected! Thanks :D**

"So, can I ask you a personal question?" I ventured as James and I walked outside. James had convinced me to skip class and take a stroll down by the lake. I wasn't sure why I had agreed, but I had, only as long as we stayed away from the forest. The weather was warm, and the sun gave me courage to speak my mind.

James didn't respond. I turned to him and saw that he was staring off in front of us, deep in concentration.

"James?" A slow smile slid across his face when a said his name, drawing his attention to me for the first time. "I was wondering…" Now that he was looking at me, I felt deeply embarrassed to ask what I had been so intent on only moments earlier. "What were you doing with that, uh, girl a couple days ago?"

As I said the question aloud, I realized how stupid it sounded.

James smile froze. "What… do you mean?" He was being extremely cautious, and I could tell that I was treading on a thin wire—I just hoped it wouldn't snap.

"Well, if you must know, I saw you snogging some brunette in the hallway. You know, in front of everyone..."

James stopped walking. "I can't believe it, you're jealous! You're _actually_ jealous! If you wanted a kiss, Lily, all you had to do was come out and ask for one!" He looked at me from under his eyelashes and pretended to look seductive.

I gave him my best look of disgust. "I'm not jealous of some idiotic girl! I just wanted to you to know that, that kind of display is not appropriate for anyone in the hallway, let alone Head Boy!" If my temper had been a cauldron it was, at that moment, boiling over with a nasty shade of brown and red.

James, always the calm one, immediately shouted back. "Well, I'm not perfect, okay? I don't go to bed exactly at 9:30 every night! I don't complete my homework on time, I don't say my pleases and thank yous, AND I DON'T ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU EXPECT ME TO DO!"

I glared at him, feeling murderous. "I do _not_ go to bed at 9:30, I stay up until 9:45!"

We stood, faces inches from one another, eyes bursting with rage. Then with no warning, James burst out laughing. He doubled over, clutching his chest.

"What's so funny?" I asked, anger evaporating and replaced with exasperation.

James kept on laughing, paying me no attention. "You," he finally managed to choke out. He cut off mid guffaw when he saw my face, which undoubtedly would have scared even me if I could have seen it.

Hands on my hips, I turned away. _This is what I get for skipping class,_ I thought. _I should have known better._

"Lily, come on! I'm sorry," James called after me, but I didn't stop. I didn't want to turn around after I had given him a lecture—that would have been too anticlimactic.

I heard him running to catch up to me, and I decided to let him. I didn't want to look like a scared five year old running away from a cooties infested little boy. James gently grabbed my arm.

"Lily," he said, pulling me to a stop. "I'm sorry for laughing… it's just, well, stupid. We just apologized to each other barely an hour ago and now we're already fighting. And over your bed time, no less!" James grinned.

I looked down at the dirt, kicking at it with my old shoes. He was right. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why was he always right?

"And about the girl the other day… I was doing her a favor…"

"Pff, I could see that!" I interrupted.

"Let me finish!" I couldn't see how there was anything to explain. "Natalie's boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend really, was hunting her down. He wants her back, see, and he's rather abusive to her—not at all a gentleman like me—"

"James, just say whatever the heck you're trying to say!" I said.

He gestured at me to calm down. "You can't yell at me for not explaining, then yell at me when I do," he muttered. Rubbing a hand through his messy hair, he continued, "I was walking through the wallway and Natalie comes running up to me, screaming that her boyfriend is gonna hurt her. I saw him coming towards us, so I ask Natalie if there is anything I can do, and she says yes."

"So she asks you to kiss her?" The whole thing seemed kind of, no extremely, ridiculous.

"Natalie said that if Ross knew she was with another guy, he would leave her alone… so I did what I felt was necessary, okay?" James looked down at me, clearly distressed.

"Well, it still wasn't the best way to handle it… You're Head Boy, tell Ross to get a life."

James opened his mouth to reply when a stern voice yelled our names. I looked over my shoulder and moaned. Professor Slughorn was trudging towards us, a stern look of disgust on his face. I had a feeling that being one of his favorite students wouldn't let me off easy this time.


	14. Chapter 14

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, what do you think you are doing out of the castle during school hours?" Professor Slughorn asked. He obviously had been doing the same thing we had, been out for a stroll.

"We, ah," I couldn't seem to find words. My mouth was moving as if it was full of putty.

Then Professor Slughorn looked horrified. "You two weren't… you know…"

"No," James said quickly before Slughorn could continue. I had an idea of what he had been about to say, and I hoped I was wrong. Either way, my face started to flush. I looked around me, anywhere but at them.

"You see, Professor, Lily and I needed extra time to work on Head duties, you know, organizing events and stuff for Hogwarts. Importance business. We've gotten permission to do so," James told the Professor confidently.

"Is this true, Ms. Evans?"

I felt Slughorn's eyes on me but couldn't bring myself to look up. If I had he would have for sure been able to see through the lie—I was such a terrible liar.

"Yes, sir," I muttered, barely audible. _Why do I always find myself in such situations only when I'm around James?_

Professor Slughorn looked James up and down before giving a huff and declaring, "Well, if you have so much time off I'd appreciate if you'd help me out. I've been needing extra assistance to help me make a potion—very powerful stuff. But everyone always been unable to lend me a hand. "

James coughed, "I wonder why." Thankfully Professor Slughorn didn't hear. He was too busy smiling at us like we were little kids and he was giving us lollipops. "You'll help me, won't you?"

There was no getting out of it. We both nodded our heads enthusiastically. _Too bad I won't actually get a lollipop out of this_, I thought, gritting my teeth as we headed back to the castle.

James seemed fine with the turn of the events. It seemed our argument was totally forgotten, and I was silently thankful. I was being ridiculous towards him, getting in his face at every little choice he made. It really was none of my business at all. Nor should it be.

We soon found ourselves in a dreary looking dungeon where Slughorn called Home. He had a large copper cauldron pulled out in the middle of the room. Potion ingredients were strewn everywhere.

"Well, good thing I tidied up before I left for my walk earlier—my unconscious must have been telling me that I would later be having guests," the professor said.

James gave a good natured laugh… but stopped abruptly when Slughorn started at him.

"My dear boy, what's so funny?" he asked.

"Um, your joke, sir," but James stopped as he realized Professor Slughorn had been serious.

I coughed to fill the uncomfortable silence. "Professor, what potion are we helping you with?"

Slughorn stopped giving James a weird stare and started stumbling around the room, looking for something. He must have found it as he stopped abruptly next to a large bookcase. He pulled out a long, yellowing piece of paper.

"It's something for Professor Dumbledore. Can't say what, I'm afraid. It's secret stuff, but I think I can trust the two Heads to help me out. After all, you two are probably the most responsible students at Hogwarts!"

It was my turn to laugh, once again at something Professor Slughorn hadn't meant to be funny. "Ahhaha—sorry, tickle in my throat…" I gave a loud cough for good measure and mentally smacked myself silly.

Professor Slughorn looked concerned for my sanity, but only momentarily before James asked him again about the potion, and Slughorn prepared the cauldron.

"Now, I need to run an errand, but follow the directions on this list" –he thrust the yellow paper into my hands— "The first three ingredients should take about an hour to stir together." With little more instruction, the professor zoomed out of his room.

"Once again you and I are alone in a classroom. Hmm, this could definitely lead to some juicy gossip for the first years," James said.

I chose to ignore his comment. I wasn't sure where he was trying to go with it. Was he trying to flirt with me? I wasn't sure to think of it if he was. I was just getting used to talking to him again and trying not to get upset over some of the things he says.

I lit a small, contained fire under the cauldron's copper bottom and threw in the snake skin.

"I was surprised by your ability to come up with a feasible lie to Slughorn outside when he caught us. I thought we were dead meat for sure," I finally said.

James pushed his hair up arrogantly. "Yeah, well, it comes with years of practice. You don't think I've only had 34 detentions for nothing, do you?"

I stopped stirring for a second and looked into his hazel eyes. "Thirty-four detentions! You've had thirty-four detentions?!" I couldn't believe it.

"So few, I know," James said, looking thoughtful. "I suppose if I hadn't gotten so good at excuses, the number would be nearly double."

All I could say was, "thirty… thirty-four…" I shook my head. I knew he had gotten many more detentions in his first couple years at Hogwarts.

I threw in the next ingredient, and James went on talking as if he relished thinking back on his misbehavior. "Yep, second year they made Sirius and I scrub dishes in the kitchen for a month. We finally finished our detentions when we got caught sneaking around school at night and were sent back." He shook his head. "We were down there so often that one time a professor came in and accidently addressed us as house elves. "

I laughed, visualizing it all in my head. Little James Potter, naughtiest boy to enter Hogwarts great doors.

My cheerfulness was cut short when the door swung open and Professor Slughorn came back in. He strutted in slowly, carrying himself tall with his large belly protruding above his belt.

"How's it going along, Ms. Evans?" he asked, smiling kindly at me.

I shrugged. "We're only on the second step."

Slughorn seemed to understand. "Yes, well, keep working. I'll prepare the beetle juice for step five," he said and started to walk to a dirt shelf in the back to the room.

The door swung open again, and all our eyes were on the newest addition to the room. It was a professor I only recognized by sight as I had never taken one of her classes. She didn't seem to notice that either James or I were in the room. She headed straight for Slughorn.

"Horace—have you heard?" she panted. She had obviously just ran the whole way to the room.

Professor Slughorn sputtered, "Beth, what on earth is going on? What are you talking about?"

"You—Know—Who has done it again… attacked muggle families," she sobbed. "It's all over the news, the ministry doesn't know how they're going to stop him."

At the mention of muggles, my body stiffened. I worried about my parents at home constantly. You—Know—Who had been killing and causing destruction for a long time, but it seemed like there had been more attacks recently than in the past.

Professor Slughorn looked at James then at me. "Please, Beth, there are_ children_ in the room." He hushed her up and ushered her out of the room while giving the two of us pitying looks.

The room fell silent as the two disappeared. I didn't move except for my hand which still stirred the cauldron, although I was no longer aware of what I was doing.

"Lily?" A hand went out and touched my shoulder. "Lily, I'm sure your family is fine." I knew James was talking to me, yet it was like I was alone on an island. I was surrounded my hundreds of innocent muggles who had died cruelly at the hands of witches and wizards.

"Lily, we should get you back to the common room." James carefully tried to pull me away from the cauldron, but I was stubborn.

"No, we can't leave the potion unattended," I insisted, trying to keep my voice steady.

"No, we definitely don't. Slughorn will understand." He pulled on me again, and this time I didn't put up a fight. He must have dragged me all the way back to the Gryffindor common room, but I don't really recall any of it. My mind was racing with dreadful possibilities.

Then I blinked and found that I was standing in front of my bedroom door.

"You should go to bed," James said from where he stood next to me, supporting me. I wanted to argue, to remain strong, but sometimes I have found it is best to give in. So I nodded and James helped me into my room and into my bed.

The fact that he was in my room would have sent me screaming only months ago, yet now it was comforting. I trusted him; I knew that he would respect me and that he understood the terrible emotions I was feeling.


End file.
